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Research Projects
Overview |
Selected Research
Projects
in the Wadden Sea |
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Last update: 20 December 2006 |
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Explanatory Note:
Current research projects relevant for the Wadden Sea and the TMAP
have been compiled from different sources. However, it is not
attempted to give a complete overview about all ongoing or finalized
projects in all three countries. Several meta data bases have been
established on national and international level to serve this goal (see
below). |
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EMPAS
Environmentally Sound Fishery
Management in Protected Areas.
http://www.ices.dk/projects/empas.asp
The ICES/BfN-project EMPAS was started
in February 2006 based on funding from the German Federal Agency for
Nature Conservation (BfN). The main aim of the project is to develop
fisheries management plans for each of ten German NATURA 2000 sites
(see Figure).
The project will gather and analyze the available data and
information about the fisheries in and around the NATURA 2000 sites
of the German EEZ. The project is intended to provide guidance as to
how the quality of fisheries data may need to be improved when used
for the evaluation of potential conflicts between fisheries and
nature conservation goals. After analyses and assessments of fishing
activities and impacts on protected species and habitats, a
fisheries management concept will be developed, which comply with
the demands of the ecosystem, and which do not jeopardize the goods
to be protected, and which safeguard or restore the favourable
conservation state of these areas. Part of this concept may be
concrete recommendations for fisheries management measures such as
spatial and temporal regulation of the fishery (e.g. zoning
measures), the introduction of sustainable fishing methods that
better comply with ecosystem requirements, and other management
measures (e.g. discard restrictions) in order to meet the objectives
for the NATURA 2000 sites.
The first EMPAS workshop (WKFMMPA) was held in April 2006 and
the workshop report can be downloaded at:
http://www.ices.dk/projects/empas.asp
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HARBASINS
Harmonised River Basins Strategies North Sea (INTERREG IIIB)
http://www.interregnorthsea.org/project-details.asp?id=1-16-31-7-61-04
Coastal zones in the European Union are
regarded as ecological entities, which encompass catchment areas of
several different river basins. Moreover, management of water basins
at the European level is governed by the Water Framework Directive.
It is common however that appropriate management of coastal zones
stimulates integration of many sectoral interests, which is
manifested by international cooperation. Because of that,
coordination of different practices, defined in the international
agreements, with requirements and initiatives of the European
Directive needs to be achieved in order to integrate coastal areas.
The HARBASINS project was set up to combine the two approaches, i.e.
the EU’s river basin and the international coastal zones management
into an optimal way for the North Sea Region.
http://www.harbasins.org
Contact
Project Manager Frank Zijp
National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management/ RIKZ
NL-2500 EX The Hague
The Netherlands
F.R.Zijp@rikz.rws.minvenw.nl
Start Date: 30/11/2004
End Date: 30/06/2008
Partners:
Management Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management,
Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management
Rijkswaterstaat Noord-Nederland, The Netherlands;
Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, CWSS, Wihelmshaven, Germany;
Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies (IECS), University of Hull,
UK;
Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoeken / Research Institute for
Nature and Forest, Belgium;
Niedersächsisches Landesbetrieb für Wasserhaushalt, Küsten- und
Naturschutz Forschungsstelle Küste / Coastal Research Station
Niedersachsen, Germany
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MODELKEY
MODELKEY comprises a
multidisciplinary approach aiming at developing interlinked and
verified predictive modelling tools as well as state-of-the-art
effect-assessment and analytical methods generally applicable to
European freshwater and marine ecosystems:
- to assess, forecast, and
mitigate the risks of traditional and recently evolving
pollutants on fresh water and marine ecosystems and their
biodiversity at a river basin and adjacent marine environment
scale,
- to provide early warning
strategies on the basis of sub-lethal effects in vitro and in
vivo,
- to provide a better
understanding of cause-effect-relationships between changes in
biodiversity and the ecological status, as addressed by the
Water Framework Directive (WFD), and the impact of environmental
pollution as causative factor,
- to provide methods for
state-of-the-art risk assessment and decision support systems
for the selection of the most efficient management options to
prevent effects on biodiversity and to prioritise contamination
sources and contaminated sites,
- to strengthen the scientific
knowledge on an European level in the field of impact assessment
of environmental pollution on aquatic ecosystems and their
biodiversity by extensive training activities and knowledge
dissemination to stakeholders and the scientific community.
The project is funded by the EC 6th
Framework programme
(Contract-No. 511237 (GOCE))
Project Duration: 1st February 2005 to 31st January 2010
http://www.modelkey.org/
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MESH - Mapping European Seabed Habitats
MESH is an international marine habitat mapping programme that
started in spring 2004 and will last for 3 years. A consortium of 12
partners across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
gained financial support from the EU INTERREG IIIB fund for this
international programme. The MESH partnership covers all five
countries in the Interreg (IIIb) north-west Europe area, drawing
together scientific and technical habitat mapping skills, expertise
in data collation and its management, and proven practical
experience in the use of seabed habitat maps for environmental
management within national regulatory frameworks.
MESH aims to produce seabed habitat maps for north-west Europe (see
MESH study area) and develop international standards and protocols
for seabed mapping studies. The end products will be a meta database
of mapping studies, a web-delivered geographic information system
(GIS) showing the habitat maps, guidance for marine habitat mapping
including protocols and standards, a report describing case
histories of habitat mapping, a stakeholder database and an
international conference with published proceedings.
http://www.searchmesh.net/
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MarBEF
MarBEF is a network of excellence funded by the European Union and
consisting of 78 European marine institutes, it is a platform to
integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine
biodiversity, with links to researchers, industry, government,
stakeholders and the general public. More information can be found
on the website:
http://www.marbef.org
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EUR-OCEANS
EUR-OCEANS (European Network of Excellence for Ocean Ecosystems
Analysis) is a network of excellence co-funded by the Sixth
Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of
the European Communities (FP6). The network gathers more than 60
research institutes and universities from 25 countries. Its
activities started in January 2005, running for 4 years until
December 2008.
http://www.eur-oceans.org/
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ComCoast
ComCoast is a European project that develops and demonstrates
innovative solutions for flood protection in coastal areas.
Shortly: COMbined functions in COASTal defence zones.
ComCoast creates multifunctional flood management schemes with a
more gradual transition from sea to land, which benefits the wider
coastal community and environment whilst offering economically sound
options. The ComCoast concept focuses on coastal areas comprising
embankments.
ComCoast runs from April 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007. The European
Union Community Initiative Programme Interreg IIIB North Sea Region
and the project partners jointly finance the project costs of € 5,8
million.
http://www.comcoast.org/
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NAME
Nitrate in Aquifers and
influences on carbon cycling in Marine Ecosystems
NAME is a new research project on the
influences on marine ecosystems from nitrate bearing groundwater
reaching into the marine environment.
The NAME research project is sponsored by the European Commission
under the Fifth Framework Program and the project is part of the
implementation of the Key
Action 3 "Sustainable Marine Ecosystems" within the Energy,
Environment and Sustainable Development.
The NAME Project is a joint venture between scientists from Denmark,
Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The research area is the the
area near Hjerting (Danmark, Ho Bugt, Northern Wadden Sea).
Project duration: 3 years
www.natur.ribeamt.dk/name |
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MINOS and MINOS-plus
Marine warm-blooded animals in the North and Baltic Seas:
Foundations for assessment of offshore wind farms
The MINOS project examines whether large
scale offshore wind farms within the German parts of North and
Baltic Seas affect or endanger harbour porpoises, common seals and
sea birds. The research results are expected to provide the
knowledge for estimating and assessing the impacts of future wind
farms.
Offshore wind farms?
MINOS focusses on two items:
- Preferential habitats and migratory
routes of animals in the EEZ
Why do they stay at which places during the seasons? Where do they
move in between?
- Sense of hearing of porpoises and
seals and its sensitivity:
How discriminating is their ear? What exactly do they hear? How do
they react on noise? What damages their ear?
MINOS: Jan 2002 - March 2004. Volume:
1,5 m€.
MINOS+: July 2004 - April 2007. Volume: 3.4 m€.
Project management/coordination and data base by the National Park
Office of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, Tönning.
http://www.minos-info.org/
(in english) |
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COMRISK
COMRISK is a common project of North Sea Region coastal defence authorities. It aims at improved risk management for coastal flood prone areas. The project runs from
2002 to 2005 and is co-financed by the Community Initiative Programme Interreg III B North Sea Region of the European
Union (EUR 1.6 Mill.).
http://www.comrisk.org/index.html |
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COSA
COastal SAnds as
Biocatalytical Filters (EU Project)Understanding
the functioning of sandy sediments, quantifying their biocatalytical
function and contributing to their sustainable use.
Development of ecological quality status indicators and/or developing
a transport-reaction model to be used as prognostic tool.
Direct integration via participating environmental agencies of the
results into management plans. Collaboration with Polish scientist and
agency for nature protection Project
duration: 3 years, 2002 - 2005
http://www.eu-cosa.org/ |
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BioGeoChemistry of Tidal Flats The
investigations aim at a fundamental understanding of important
processes in a tidal flat system. For this purpose, biogeochemical
transformations on water-column-suspended particles, at the
sediment-water interface and in the sediments will be studied and the
influence of the different processes on the material budgets will be
determined.
A
material budget will be established for a selected tidal flat area on
the East Frisian North Sea coast (backbarrier tidal flat of Spiekeroog
island).
The work is based on the results of past ecosystem research projects
in the same coastal area, but in the analysis of the material budget
and particularly in the integrative modeling it will break new
scientific ground due to the innovative methodological concepts
applied.
Project duration: 6 years, 2001 - 2006
Volume: EUR 5.5 Mill (financed by the DFG)
http://www.icbm.de/watt/eng_index.html |
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Meta Data Bases |
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SEA-SEARCH
Oceanographic and Marine Data & Information in Europe
http://www.sea-search.net
Marine Environmental Research Projects (EDMERP)
NOKIS
Meta data - information system for coastal research and engineering
NOKIS++ is a project which investigates the implementation of
information infrastructures as part of Integrated Coastal Zone
Management.
http://nokis.baw.de MareNet
Worldwide Network of Marine Research Institutions and Documents.
http://www.marenet.de/MareNet/
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Research Centers |
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GKSS EU Projects
Overview
of recent EU project (coastal regions) with participation of the
German GKSS research center. |
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